Friday, July 15, 2011

Sarah Palin: Sarah PAC collected 1.7 Million

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who is spending the summer weighing a presidential run, announced her political action committee raised about $1.7 million during the first half of 2011, leaving her with $1.4 million in the bank.

Ms. Palin’s money haul is not in the same ballpark as some major Republican presidential candidates; former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney raised $18.25 million in the second quarter, and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty raised $4.2 million in the same three-month stretch.

But Ms. Palin has more than enough money to travel the country as she gauges support for a run. Last month, Ms. Palin caused a media sensation when she launched a short bus tour up the East Coast, a trip she can pay for with her PAC.

According to a list of itemized expenditures filed by SarahPAC to the Federal Elections Committee and published Thursday, Palin’s committee spent nearly $14,000 on the “bus wrap” that festooned the family’s tour bus with images of the Liberty Bell, Constitution and American flag. The committee spent $10,000 on “logistical trip consulting,” $3,600 to the bus driver and at least $7,000 on lodging

But the total for the trip is likely much more, because many bills came in after the June 30 filing deadline, Sarah PAC treasurer Tim Crawford said in an interview

10 comments:

Anonymous
said...

PAC money is why the bogus bus trip came to an abrupt halt. She was spending political donations on a family vacations and it was either declare (for the candidacy) or stop the vacation. She chose to stop. Since she repeatedly insisted it was a family vacation, not a campaign that she was not running, she will be hard put to back track and say she was really running. Surely this is, at the very least, unethical spending. I have been waiting for someone to raise this issue.

Should Palin stop teasing and actually decide to run for POTUS (my bet is there is no way she does) she will have to answer to this issue - was she lying about running and therefore the spending is legitimate or was she really on a family vacation and therefore the spending characterized how she intends to spend other people's money?

Yahoo News reported that SarahPAC took in $1.6 million, skimpy compared to Romney's $18 million in the same period. She also spent close to that amount ($1.4 million?). Yahoo said that the remaining $1 million is hardly enough to get a professional staff and campaign office together, let alone finance a trip around the country.

If Sarah is holding back on an announcement that she could make right now, it's to milk more contributions out of her faithful followers. I'm sure she wants to run, but all of the actual facts would make a more cautious person think twice. Low approval, high disapproval ratings, not a big campaign fund, poor staff, and that's just for starters. She can't take criticism. She'll be under more scrutiny. Debate? Sunday Morning shows beside Fox? She wants to run and stay in the spotlight, but something is preventing her from saying anything for another month or two??? After the Newsweek teasing photos, this is just more of the same, only with bad hair. I liked someone's suggestion that IF she runs, she will last about as long as Fred Thompson did. Sarah in a debate with people who really want it? I'm shaking my head.

If Rupert was once her secret patron saint, I wonder how that's working out right now. He has bigger problems than trying to position Sarah Palin right now. Roger Ailes must be spitting mad. He told Sarah to "lie low" after the Gifford shooting, and Sarah explained those surveyors marks and blood libel. Now she is busy reloading. She just will not take direction, not even from the head of Fox. If Sarah can take direction from Roger Ailes (or Steve Schmidt, in "Game Change") she won't last very long on the campaign trail. If she thought that being governor was a bumpy ride, she's going to need that motorcycle helmet and a strong seat belt, even for the next leg of the wrapped bus tour. (How much was that family vacation again, speaking of being fiscally responsible with other peoples money?)

Wow, I don't think you understand Presidential elections...she cannot use PAC money to run for President, so that million left over is meaningless to a Presidential run, anyway. What you don't understand is that she can probably raise 10 million, from small donors, in about a month...more than enough money to start a campaign. She has enough personal money to start the campaign while she waits for the real campaign money to pour in.

@ JR..in your dreams. She is too cheap to spend even one penny of her personal money and I don't think her cult can donate enough to even get her started on a campaign. She will continue teasing her cult until she spends every penny of PAC money on herself. The good thing is, her donations for the last quarter were extremely weak. Looks like some of the cult has wised up.

How do you feel about paying for her "family vacation"? I'd be mad if Romney spent my donations on a bogus vacation.

Actually Double-Dee, I have never once donated to any politician...probably never will.

As far as following your every word...I akin it to a car crash...they are sloppy and sad and depressing, yet I just have to look. In all honesty...I find you absolutely pathetic. To think that you have nothing better to do than spend your days trashing another human being, whom you don't even know, with insanely, made up accusations that have been proven false is so sad that I kinda feel bad for you. Yesterday, I actually stopped teasing you because I thought that someone with so little in their life could be really hurt by being poked fun of but unfortunately you have little redemption to offer.

I am sorry if I made you feel as if I thought your opinion had any substance or meant anything at all to me other than to fill in the small, pockets of boredom I have throughout my day. I wish you luck and for your sake...I almost hope Sarah Palin does not run...because I think it might possibly be a tipping point in your life that could be very sad for all of those around you.

JR...you sure spend a lot of time trying to convince yourself that I don't know the truth about the quitter. The actual car crash is Sarah. I akin her to sloppy, sad and depressing. I enjoy watching her demise. To think you have nothing better to do than to spend your entire life trying to defend her. She's a grizzly, she doesn't need old men to defend her.

Good luck ignoring me, I don't think you can.

Run Sarah, run...I will enjoy the comedy. Can you imagine her trying to debate Rommey? Hahahaha